Vacuum tube socket



M. ALDEN 9 3 'VACU'UM TUBE SOCKET I Filed Sept. 26, 1931 MZZZvmAZden INVENTOR.

Patented Apr. 7, 1936 VACUUM TUBE sooKE'r Milton Alden, BrocktomMass assignor to Radio Inventions, Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application September 26, 1931, Serial No. 565,298

9 Claims.

My invention relates broadly to electron tube sockets and more particularly to a construction of resilient mounting for electron tube sockets for preventing mechanical vibrations, shocks and jars from damaging the relatively delicate electrode construction of the electron tube.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide a. mounting for anelectron tube socket which is simple in mechanical construction and yet effective for preventing external mechanical vibrations, shocks and jars from being transferred to the electron tube structure.

Another object of my invention is to provide a construction of contact for a resilient electron tube socket mounting where a plurality of sheets of spring metal are arranged to be readily diestamped for forming a resilient electrical contact for-the socket mounting.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a. construction of contact for an electron tube socket in which the contact members are placed under tension upon the insertion of an electron tube in the mounting whereby theelectron tube is suspended resiliently and thus protected against undesirable mechanical vibration.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a resilient electron tube socket mounting in which electron tubes of long or short pin terminals may be readily utilized and proper electrical connection made with the tube.

A further object of my invention is to provide a construction of contact for a resilient electron tube socket mounting in which a pair of parallel supporting faces are provided in diilerent planes interconnected by an angularly disposed connecting member forming both an electrical connection and terminal for the contact and insuring a flexi- 1 ble suspension for the contact.

4 A still further object of my invention is the provision of an electron tube socket mounting for electron tubes where a substantially oscillatory movement is imparted to the electron tube under conditions of mechanical vibration as distinguished from straight line motion of the tube 45 for further decreasing the effects of mechanical shocks upon the tube electrodes.

Another object is to provide effective frictional contacts for the sides of the tube prongs.

Another object is to provide a socket to satis- 50 factorily hold a tube solely by means of its prongs. Another object is to provide means for engaging the prongs of a tube and supporting it independently of the size of the tube.

Another object is to more effectively hold a tube 55 in its socket.

Other and further objects of my invention will be understood from the specification hereinafter following by reference to the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a transverse sectional view of one form it of socket of my invention having two contact fingers for each tube prong. a

Figs. 2 and 3 are top and bottom views of the prong holding elements of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a detail view of one of the conducting l0 members. a

Fig. 5 is a sectional view showing a type of construction having a single contact finger for each tube prong.

Fig. 6 is a bottom view of the prong holding it elements of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a detail of another form of contact for a socket embodying certain broad features of my invention and which socket is specifically covered in my application 119,531, filed June 30, 20 1926 now matured into Patent No. 1,936,320.

The forms shown in Figs. 1 to 6 are divided out of my application 72,794, new Patent 1,839,-

633, dated January 5, 1932, filed December 2, 1925, where the cut-out type of contact is broadly claimed. This application is, therefore, a continuation in part of said application 72,794.

The base or panel I on which the socket or group of sockets may be mounted may be formed of suitable material, for instance, insulation such as is commonly employed in radio receivers or repeater systems.

The shell 2 serves as a holder for the usual electron tube and may be molded from insulating material and provided with a flange 3 at the base thereof.

A conventional tube base 4 is shown in dotted lines and provided with prongs 5. This holder is preferably provided with a chamber 6 and holes I in the top 8. These holes will, of course, be 4 of the proper size and arrangement to accommodate the prongs of the tube for which the socket is designed.- This top 8 is also preferably provided with a central depending portion 9 between the holes I. It will thus be seen that the top is thin and approximately of the same thickness as the side walls of the holder but that additional insulating material is provided alongside the inner edges of the holes to reinforce the top and also to provide additional material for limiting the possible tilting action of the inserted prongs of the tube.

The holder is supported spaced apart from the base by a number of spring members which also, furnish contact surfaces for the prongs and terminals for the connection of the circuit wires. Each of these spring members is formed of a single strip of resilient sheet metal which is diestamped, cut and shaped in'the desired manner.

In the form shown in Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive, the strip is provided with an outer end I0 and an inner end II with an intermediate contact portion I2. This contact portion is formed by cutting out a portion of the strip intermediate its ends and bending it into the desired position. This contact finger portion is thus connected to the outer end of the strip by parallel side portions I3 and connected to the inner end II by a portion I4. When bent into final form it will be seen that the conducting member has the two parallel feet I0 and II with inclined arms I3 connecting the outer foot to the sides of the portion I4 which terminates in the upper foot II. The foot or end II is secured to the flange 3 in any suitable manner as, for instance, by means of a rivet I5.

The intermediate contact finger I2 extends at an inclination beneath one of the holes I in the top so as to stand in the path of movement of an inserted tube prong. It will thus be seen that when the tube prongs are inserted all of the spring contact fingers I2 are pressed inwardly toward each other so that any tension on the flange of the insulating holder is radially inward.

As the holder is circular in horizontal section it is well adapted to resist this inward tension without subjecting it to any strain which would be likely to crack or distort it.

The rim It at the lower edge of the holder pro-' jects downwardly beneath the foot I! of the contact member and serves as an abutment to limit the downward movement of the holder when the tube is being inserted so as to avoid crushing the bent portions of the resilient supporting arms I3.

I also prefer to provide an additional contact finger I8 inclined beneath each of the holes I in the top of the holderso as to engage each prong at a point on its outer wall adjacent but above the point of engagement of the contact I2, thus assuring a double contact with each prong at different points along its length. This contact member I8 will, of course, be formed of resilient material and it has a foot I9 secured to the holder, for instance, by means of the same rivet I5 which fastens the end II of the supporting conductor.

Both sets of contacts constitute side wiping members. The tip of the contact I8 being close to the top of the holder is adapted to engage a prong even though it is not fully inserted or even if it is not long enough to reach the contact I2. The tip I8 is also preferably inclined downwardly so as to facilitate insertion of the prong and also to act as a scraping member to keep the prong clean.

These contacts serve to support the tube in such a .manner that external vibrations have no effect upon the tube and vibrations of one tube will not be transmitted through the socket to another tube.

The outer ends I0 of the contact members serve as supporting feet which may be secured to the base in any suitable manner as, for instance, by means of a rivet 20.

A tongue 2i may also be partially cut from the material of the main conductor and bent downwardly so as to provide a soldering tab extending beneath the supporting panel if desired.

This construction thermally insulates the soldering tab from the contact springs and thus prevents any damage to the springs which might otherwise occur by reason of the heat from the soldering operation.

Such a construction thus affords a cushion mounting which is economical to make and which lends itself readily to the concealment of wiring below the panel so that there would be but one soldered joint between the circuit conductor and the conductor which forms the electrical contact of the socket.

In the form shown in Figs. 5 and 6 the inner contacts I2 are omitted and the inclined arms I3 may be somewhat shorterthan the arms I3. Of course, this construction does not have the special advantages of the duplex contact arrangement of Fig. 1. It does, however, have the advantage common to the form shown in Fig. 1 of having the contact tip I8 arranged adjacent the depending portion 9 of the top so as to coact with the prongs and the top to hold the tube base in place independently of any engagement with the base 4 of the tube.

These constructions accommodate themselves readily to the prongs of an ordinary commercial tube regardless of variations in size or placement of the prongs and will hold the tube with adequate electrical contact even if the prongs of the tube happen to be somewhat loose and regardless of the size of the tube base.

Fig. 7 shows another form of contact having the outer supporting foot Ill, the inner end II adapted to be secured to a perforated disc or holder, and an intermediate portion I2 serving as the contact portion of the conductor. Such a conductor would, of course, be furnished for each hole in the socket with the cam portion I2 alongside of and slightly inclined with respect to the path of movement of the inserted prong so that the prongs may be readily inserted and so that the spring contacts will frictionally engage the inner surfaces of the prongs and hold the tube in place.

While I have illustrated my invention in some of its preferred embodiments it should be understood that no limitations upon the invention are intended other than those imposed by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A cushion socket comprising a holder having a perforated top for receiving the prongs of a tube and having an insulating projection beneath the top and between the holes therein and spring conductors each having two spring arm portions, one portion being permanently secured to the holder, the other portion serving as a spring supporting foot and an intermediate portion serving as an independently resilient spring side contact adjacent said projection and in position to engage the side of a tube prong inserted in a perforation, each spring contact formed by said intermediate portion being biased to press radially outward against 2. prong, said projection serving to steady the inserted tube.

2. A cushion socket comprising a holder having a perforated top for receiving the prongs of a tube, spring conductors each having a portion secured to the holder, another portion serving as a supporting foot for the holder and an intermediate portion serving as a side contact in position to engage the side of a tube prong inserted in a perforation, each contact being biased to press radially outward against the side of a prong and a second contact secured to the holder adjacent each of the first mentioned contacts and biased inwardly in opposition to the first men- 75 tioned contact, said holder being maintained in position away from its support by the action of said supporting foot portions of said spring conductors.

3. A cushion socket comprisinga holder having a perforated top ,for receiving the prongs of a tube and having an insulating projection beneath the top and between the holes therein, spring conductors each having a portion secured to the holder, another portion serving as a supporting foot for the holder and an intermediate portion serving as a side contact adjacent said projection and in position to engage the side of a tube prong inserted in a perforation, each spring being biased to press radially outward adjacent a prong and a second contact secured to the holder and biased inwardly in opposition to the first mentioned contact, said projection serving to steady the inserted tube, said holder being maintained in position away from its support by the action of said supporting foot portions, of said spring conductors.

4. A socket for a vacuum tube comprising a holder having perforations in its top for the prongs of a tube and a flange beneath the top of the holder and a plurality of radially disposed one-piece conductors each formed of a resilient strip of metal having one endsecured directly to the holder and the opposite end serving as a circuit terminal and having a portion serving as a laterally resilient contact movable longitudinally and also radially of the axis of the holder for engaging and holding the side of an inserted tube prong and having an inclined shoulder in line with one edge of one of the perforations whereby a tube prong may be inserted so as to automatically force the contact laterally, said one-piece conductors also serving to maintain said holder spaced apart from said circuit terminals and all portions of each one-piece conductor lying substantially in a single radius from the center of said socket, whereby relative movement of said holder and said circuit terminals results in substantially no relative rotation of these two portions.

5. A socket for vacuum tubes and the like comprising a base member, an insulating disc positioned away from the plane of the base member and having apertures through which the contact pins of a tube are adapted to be insorted, and a plurality of supporting spring conduetors, each secured at its outer end to said base member and having a portion extending radially inward and another portion connected thereto -and extending radially outward and secured at its outer end to said disc to resiliently support the disc in spaced relation to the base member, each conductor having a portion shaped to provide a laterally yielding contact surface adjacent an aperture in the disc for receiving contacting engagement with the side of a contact pin of the inserted tube so as to frictionally clean and establish good electrical contact with the side of said contact pin upon the insertion of the latter.

6. A vacuum tube socket comprising two pieces of insulating material for receiving and supporting a vacuum tube having terminal prongs, a number of conductor members each having spaced apart portions retained by each of the two pieces of insulating material respectively and each conductor member having intermediate its ends two spaced apart laterally resilient contact arms for receiving between them a prong of the tube and each conductor member having a wire soldering tab near one end extending through one of the pieces of insulating material so that said piece of insulation is interposed between the outer end. of the wire soldering tab and the contact arms.

7. A vacuum tube socket comprising discrete sections of insulating material for respectively receiving and supporting a vacuum tube having prongs, a number of conductor members each having spaced apart portions riveted to the respective sections of insulating material and each having intermediate laterally resilient spring contact arms for receiving between them the respective prongs of the tube and soldering tabs mechanically homogeneous with said conductor members but thermally shielded from the spring contact arms with respect to a source of radiant heat at their outer extremities, said conductor members constituting the mechanical and electrical linkage between said discrete sections of insulating material.

8. A vacuum tube socket comprising. two insulating members, a number of conductor members each having both ends anchored to the insulating members and each having a laterally yielding spring contact 'arm adapted to receive the side engagement of inserted tube prongs, one end of each conductor member extending laterally beyond its other end and constituting a circuit terminal, all portions of each conductor member, including its contact arm, extending substantially along a single radius from the center. of said socket, whereby relative movement of said two insulating members results in substantially no relative rotation of said two members.

9. A vacuum tube socket comprising insulating means for receiving and supporting a tube base having terminal prongs, said insulating means comprising a base proper and a perforated top portion, a conductor member for each prong having two spaced apart portions each permanently anchored to the insulatingmeans and each conductor member having two spring contact members between the anchored portions normally biased toward each other to receive between them an inserted tube prong and hold it h by frictional contact with the opposite sides of the prong.

MILTON ALDEN. 

